Leading Republican Senate Candidate In Pennsylvania May Actually Live In Connecticut
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
This post has been updated to include McCormick’s response to the Vanity Fair story.
The early favorite to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania may not live in the state.
No, it’s not 2022 and Mehmet Oz hasn’t thrown his hat in the ring for Senate (yet), but the man he defeated in the GOP primary that year is giving it another go. But like Oz, David McCormick may face questions from voters about which state he actually lives in.
Shortly before McCormick announced his candidacy on Thursday, Vanity Fair published a piece that strongly suggests McCormick actually lives much of the time in Connecticut – two states away. (Oz, for his part, was knocked for having only recently taken up residence in Pennsylvania via neighboring New Jersey ahead of the 2022 campaign.)
Vanity Fair reported:
Federal Aviation Administration records list McCormick as a co-owner of four Pilatus PC-12s operated by PlaneSense, a fractional aircraft ownership program. According to Flightradar24, on Monday morning, one of those planes flew from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where McCormick visited the state capitol. There, he was reportedly spotted talking with Doug Mastriano, the Capitol riot participant who was defeated in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial election last year. After a few hours of glad-handing, the same plane took off from Harrisburg back to Bridgeport. Per Flightradar24 data provided to Vanity Fair, on August 9, another plane operated by PlaneSense flew from Bridgeport to Allegheny County, where McCormick attended a local Republican function the following day. Three days later, another PlaneSense plane flew from Allegheny County to Bridgeport, and McCormick proceeded to tear into Pittsburgh, the city he publicly claims as his place of residence.
The publication stated a spokesperson for McCormick did not respond for comment, but previously insisted to the AP McCormick lives in the Keystone State.
“While he maintains a residence in Connecticut as his daughters finish high school, Dave’s home is in Pittsburgh,” the spokesperson said.
Appearing on Hannity on Fox News later on Thursday evening, McCormick responded.
“I’m a seventh generation Pennsylvanian,” he said. “And I live there now. But like many Pennsylvanians, Sean, I’m divorced. And my youngest daughter is finishing high school. She lives withs her mom in Connecticut, and I’m gonna go to Connecticut and spend time with my daughter. And if that’s a political problem, then so be it.”
Vanity Fair also stated McCormick is currently renting a $16 million mansion in the ritzy town of Westport, Connecticut. The Senate hopeful was born in Pennsylvania and was formerly the president of a large hedge fund called Bridgewater Associates. He also served in multiple roles in the George W. Bush administration.
If he wins the nomination, he will take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in 2024.
McCormick lost the 2022 Senate primary after former President Donald Trump endorsed Oz, a stamp of approval that prompted condemnation among some conservative commentators.
“It was a mistake to endorse Oz,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham declared in April 2022. Oz went on to lose to then-Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.
